Government announces LCDB mapping programme

On the 11th August a four-year Land Cover mapping
and Research Programme was launched with a joint announcement by Environment
Minister Nick Smith and Science and Innovation Minister Wayne Mapp. The
programme will receive $1 million a year over the next four years for the
application of "the best in modern technology" to the mapping of New
Zealand's changing land cover.

“The four-year Land Cover Research Programme will provide
vital information about our rural and urban environment for the natural
resources sector, regional councils and research organisations to use,” Smith
said. “Using the best in modern technology, we can thoroughly map New Zealand’s
changing land use so we can quantify the pressures on water quality and
biodiversity.”

“Up-to-date information about vegetation, water sources
and the built environment is critical for the success of natural resource
industries such as agriculture and forestry,” said Mapp.

The
Land Cover Research Programme will be led by Landcare Research, with the
involvement of the Ministry for the Environment, the Department of
Conservation, the Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, The Fire Service and
regional councils. It will build on the Ministry for the Environment’s Land Use
and Carbon Analysis System (LUCAS), developed to report New Zealand’s carbon emissions
to the United Nations, by re-using imagery collected for the 2008 and 2012
LUCAS time steps.